Hi All. 9am with light snow coming down and a clipper coming through today and LES for Friday and Saturday with 2 to 5 forecasted. Riders in all directions report good to very good conditions except trail 3 north of 12 miles was very bumpy, but is scheduled to be groomed by the Wellston groomers 2-15-13 am Riders out yesterday reported fair to good to very good conditions, but they did say some curves and low areas were either soft or icy, so slow down and enjoy the ride. We are full for Friday and Saturday, but do have rooms for Sunday and Monday. We also have rental sleds available for Friday, Sunday and Monday. Weekday riding is the best and we have rooms and sleds for all of next week and weekend.

Our Snowmobile Rentals are ready to go, (Weather permitting) so if you don’t have a sled, or yours breaks down, we have you covered.

Keep an eye on our ATV & Snow Report for all the reports from the local grooming clubs and everything about ATV’s & Snowmobiles and our trail report, on one of the largest trail systems, plus there is a link to the Michigan DNR website for the new signage changes this year. Remember that there are tons of ATV and dirt bike trails that you can ride year around here too, including the Little O and Tin Cup Springs, so ride before the snow gets too deep. PLEASE DO NOT RIDE YOUR ORV ON SNOWMOBILE ONLY TRAILS. You can call us at 231 745 4101 during business hours of 8am until 10pm, to reserve an ATV, Room or Snowmobile. But if you just need a trail report please look at our website and take a look at the WolfCam for the snow totals.

Gift Certificates are available for ATV, Boat, Room, Snowmobile Rentals. Check out our specials and the WOLFCAM for the snow totals.

If you don’t have your sled ready, when time comes to ride, just call us, our rentals will be ready to go.

We are members of the Cycle Conservation Club of Michigan, Baldwin Trailriders, Irons Area Tourist Association, Wellston Area Recreation and Tourist Bureau, Benzie-Manistee Snowbirds, Lake County ORV Club and the Michigan Snowmobile Association. These are the local grooming clubs, in which we help support all of your favorite sports. When I go to an area, I always buy the new map for the season from the local snowmobile or ORV club. Trails may change and so do the maps. But I always spend my hard earned money, only with the businesses that support my sport. All those advertisers on the Snowmobile or ORV Club maps are the people, that help make those trails possible for all of us to ride. Just my two cents.

We have rooms available for this week and weekend, so what are you waiting for? We are snowmobilers too, and know if there isn’t enough snow to ride, you don’t want to come up and not be able to ride. Just call us before you come up and we will tell you the conditions at that time and if there is not good enough snow to ride, you can cancel your room with no penalties. But if there is enough snow to ride we expect you to keep your reservation. If you need a room or snowmobile rental, just give us a call 231-745-4101, office hours are 8am until 10pm, so call soon to get your room reserved or they will be all gone. We do have some discounts at the casino and a few local restaurants to save you even more money.

Check out the WOLFCAM for the snow totals.

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I CAN NOT SAY THIS ENOUGH, WEEKDAY RIDING IS THE BEST. SMOOTH TRAILS AND LESS TO NO TRAFFIC.

Make sure you STOP when they see the groomers so they can move by. It’s really dangerous to have riders keep moving when the groomers pass. Make sure you wave and show your support. Also, please stay off the ribbon so it will set up, and the trails will stay smoother longer.

Here is a list of the snowmobile trails in this area, are you ready? The Baldwin trails, (146 miles) go west to Reed City and south from here to Newaygo, Irons trails wrap around Wolf Lake and then heads north, east and west for 122 miles and connects to Cadillac and Wellston trails, Cadillac trails connect into the Irons and Wellston trails all the way to Cadillac, then south to Leroy, they groom 124 miles, Wellston trails goes west to connect to Cadillac trails and south to the Irons Trails and west to Freesoil for 68 miles and north to the, Benzie/Manistee trail system. The Pere Marquette trail connects to The Baldwin trail and all the way to Evart and up to Leroy 144 miles, the south Pere Marquette trail goes to Grand Rapids, I think about 140 miles, then north the Benzie/Manistee trail goes all the way to the Maple City another 147 miles I think. Let’s total this up, 146 + 122 + 124 + 68 + 140 + 147 = 747 in groomed connecting trails just in this area alone and we are right in the middle of them. I know most of the groomer operators and their schedules, so if it’s bumpy one way, we know which way to go, to have smooth trails. I don’t know about you but that’s a ton of riding. Now there is more trails to get to, but that would be just over kill and this is not even counting the hundreds of miles of the two tracks and seasonal roads that you can ride. Why spent an extra $200 to $300 in fuel to get to Gaylord or the UP when we have fantastic riding right here.

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Remember that the mid week riding is the best, less to no traffic, no lines at the gas pump and you don’t have to worry so much about the crazies coming up the trail at you.
There are over 740 miles of connecting groomed trails that run through this area and surrounding areas, so why would you want to go anywhere else? Plus miles and miles of two tracks and seasonal roads. We have two bedroom lake front rooms with full kitchens, living rooms with a sofa sleeper, (sleeps 6 – $105 a night), double lake front rooms with a queen and full beds and a kitchenette and dining table and chairs (sleeps 4 – $83 a night). Double motel rooms with two double beds and a mini fridge, (sleeps 4 – $56 a night) and single motel rooms with one full bed, (sleeps 2 – $41 a night) and our large Bunk House which has two bed rooms with queen bunk beds and a queen sofa sleeper, full kitchen, full living room, a breakfast bar and a fireplace (sleeps 10 – $ 159 a night). We have something for everyone.

Visit us at www.wolflakemotel.com or call 231-745-4101, office hours are 8am until 10pm 7 days of the week. See ya soon on the trails.

February 13, 2014 – Gogebic Area Trails are in very good to excellent condition as we head into Presidents weekend, the last “holiday” weekend of the winter. And by holiday, I mean that there will likely be families up for the weekend and some of these kids may be inexperienced. Do your part by riding at a safe speed and always staying on your side of the trail at all times. The groomers have been busy knocking back corners where they’ve become banked up, making our trails even safer for riders in the area. No problems to report on any trails. We’re expecting perfect conditions over this weekend with high temps in the teens and night temps just below zero! We’ve received about 6-inches of new snow over the last 24 hours…all is good.

We have a request to make; on a couple of instances recently our groomers have had to drive on a portion of a highway shoulder to get back to the groomer garage. Once was because the driver fell ill and once was because there was a mechanical issue with the groomer. Unfortunately some snowmobilers took this as an invitation to ride these roadways. You cannot ride along the highway, at anytime, anywhere for any reason.

I’m happy to report less snowmobile traffic riding on the railroad tracks through Merriweather and Bergland. I know there are a lot of snowmobile tracks running on the railroad tracks and it can get confusing…but don’t follow blindly along other snowmobile tracks. When in doubt, look for trail signs. If you see a R/R sign, guess what? You’re on a railroad track! Get off of it ASAP!! You could get stuck on the tracks and you could get a ticket for riding on them. I know the R.R. tracks haven’t been in use for a number of years now but they are still considered “active”, so you never know when you might come nose to nose with a very large locomotive…not cool. Law enforcement has been out patrolling these areas and will ticket anyone found riding on the R/R tracks.

So, the moral of this trail report is, once again, please stay on the marked trails! We go to a lot of effort and money to make sure these trails are kept in great shape for great riding.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the newest edition of the Gogebic Times, put out by the Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce, which can be found at most local businesses. Not only will you find a snowmobile map and a lake map but there are some really great articles about snowmobile riding in our beautiful area. Not to mention some really great articles about the Lake Gogebic area and lots of great information for year round fun. Take one or two home with you, there free of cost to you.

That’s all for now from Carolyn at the Hoop. I will keep you posted as often as conditions change. For additional information about the Lake Gogebic area we invite you to visit the only official website of the Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce at www.LakeGogebicArea.com or call us at 1-888-464-3242 (888-GOGEBIC). From all of us here at Lake Gogebic have a great ride as well as a safe ride.

Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce – 02/13/2014

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